Campground Review
The staff at this campground really went above and beyond to make sure I had all the correct information needed for my stay. They truly run like a well-oiled machine. They are the reason for the 3-stars. This was actually my second time at the park, but I didn't remember that until after I'd arrived and things started looking familiar. I should have known something was up if I didn't remember being here.
The campground itself is not my style. The sites were packed in close together and most of the tent only sites were tiny! There's even one site that wraps around a second site. After picking out my (first) site, I parked my car, looked around, and realized that there wouldn't be room for my both my tent and my friend's tent. I moved to the next site, put up my tent, and started looking for a place for my hammock. We're in the woods, it shouldn't be that hard. There were zero trees behind the second site. So, I moved again. Third time is a charm, right? We were able to get both tents up and found a place for both hammocks in between our site and the next. To give an idea of how close some of the sites are, the wood barrier around my site was only two feet away from the next site's barrier. I go camping to get away, not hang out with the neighbors.
The regulator on my lucky stove broke, so we cooked everything over a campfire. State Parks don't allow you to bring outside firewood (it's a good rule of thumb), so we bought their wood. All they had was huge pieces of fresh pine. I didn't bring a hatchet since I shouldn't need one for car camping. Luckily I had my Leatherman. More on that later.
The swimming lake is a good size. There is a concession stand, a beach with lifeguard, and a rental station for paddle boats. There were people in the water all weekend enjoying the awesome weather.
The lake trail passes right through the beach, then into the woods. The trail goes from sidewalk, to gravel, to jagged stones, to dirt, then blacktop. The last part of the trail is actually on an unmarked two-lane road over the spillway. All-in-all not the relaxing hike I had hoped for.
My take on this park is that it is best for families who love the water and want to go swimming every day. It does not have good hiking trails, or good camping - not the kind I'm looking for anyway.
Product Review
As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing the Leatherman Charge ALX. First, let me say this thing is AWESOME! I used it numerous times this weekend. It's fair to say that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The regulator on my propane stove started acting wonky. I would be in the middle of cooking and the flame would go out. The only way to light it is to lift the grate in order to get the firestarter close to the burner. The cast iron grate was already scalding, so I used my Leatherman needle-nose pliers to lift it up. Voila! After relighting the grill the fourth time, we gave up on it and decided to build a fire.
The pine logs were HUGE! Plus, there was very little kindling in the campground to use as a firestarter. We found some large branches and used the handy saw on my Leather Charge ALX to cut them up into fire-sized pieces. The sawing took way less time than I would expect for a hand-sized tool! Then, I used the straight-blade knife to shave off some bark for a little fire-starter. This blade is sharp! We had a fire going in no time.
I used the knife to cut paracord for hanging my hammock, slicing my ribeye, and even used the diamond file to fix a broken nail. Hey, a girl's gotta have good nails even in the woods.
Now that I'm back home, I reach for the Leatherman any time something needs fixing. I don't have to lug a tool box around the house and yard to fix things. Everything I need is all in one amazing pocket-sized tool. This thing is the best!
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